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HSK 4

当地

local; that locality

nounneutral
当
dāng1st tone
地
dì4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
dāngdì
Part of speech
noun
Level
HSK 4
Strokes
12
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 当地

当地 is written with 12 strokes (当: 6, 地: 6). The animation replays automatically.

What does 当地 mean?

当地 (dāngdì) is a noun meaning 'the local area' or 'that particular place' — it refers to the specific locality being talked about, and most often works attributively to mean 'local,' as in 当地人 (local people), 当地时间 (local time), or 当地政府 (the local government).

It is neutral in register and extremely common in news, travel, and everyday speech. The key difference from English 'local' is that 当地 is a noun, not an adjective: it literally means 'this/that place under discussion,' so it always points back to a place already established in context rather than describing something as small-scale or nearby. Do not confuse it with 本地 (běndì), which means 'this place, where I am,' or 附近 (fùjìn), which means 'nearby.'

Character by character

当dāngat; that very (time or place)
+
地dìground; place; locality
=
当地

Memory hook: 当 (that very) + 地 (place) = 'that very place' → the local area being discussed.

Example sentences

我们请了一位当地人当导游。

Wǒmen qǐng le yí wèi dāngdì rén dāng dǎoyóu.

We hired a local person as our guide.

neutral

到了以后，请把手表调成当地时间。

Dào le yǐhòu, qǐng bǎ shǒubiǎo tiáo chéng dāngdì shíjiān.

After you arrive, please set your watch to local time.

spoken

这道菜是当地的特色。

Zhè dào cài shì dāngdì de tèsè.

This dish is a local specialty.

neutral

当地政府正在解决交通问题。

Dāngdì zhèngfǔ zhèngzài jiějué jiāotōng wèntí.

The local government is working to solve traffic problems.

written

Common phrases with 当地

当地人dāngdì rénlocal people; locals
当地时间dāngdì shíjiānlocal time
当地政府dāngdì zhèngfǔlocal government
当地风俗dāngdì fēngsúlocal customs

Synonyms

本地běndì

本地 means 'this place, where the speaker is,' so it is anchored to your own location. 当地 refers to whatever place is under discussion, often somewhere far from the speaker (e.g. a news report about another city).

Don't confuse 当地 with

当时dāngshí

当时 means 'at that time' (temporal), while 当地 means 'in that place' (spatial). They share the character 当 but point to time versus location.

附近fùjìn

附近 means 'nearby / in the vicinity,' a relative measure of distance. 当地 means 'in that specific locality,' with no sense of near or far.

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